From Sox Prospects:Scouting Report: Tall and athletic frame, above-average all-around tools. Good-looking swing from the left side. Excellent bat speed and hip rotation in swing mechanics. Upward swing path through hitting zone and creates solid extension. Plus power potential. Solid-average speed, but not likely to be a factor as he continues to physically develop. Played shortstop and second base in high school, but has begun to transition to third base as a professional. Light on his feet, soft hands, a plus arm. High baseball IQ. Fell to Boston in the 4th round, but had been projected as a first-round pick prior to 2010 before missing most of the 2010 season with an ACL injury.

“This guy’s a really impressive bat,” said Sox farm director Mike Hazen. “Left-handed, he’s got a nice inside-out swing, an ability to cover the middle to the outer half of the plate well, and with power. He had the ability to not just hit the ball the other way, but to hit it over the outfielders’ heads the other way, which at that age is a huge separator.”

Yet the Sox were unsurprised by Cecchini’s ability in the batter’s box, since he showed an approach similar to what they’d seen when scouting him in high school. The unexpected element of the 20-year-old’s game was his speed. He swiped a dozen bases (in 14 attempts) for Lowell after having stolen a comparable number in extended spring training. Given that he suffered a torn ACL as a senior in high school that required surgery and prevented him from playing for much of last year, his running ability exceeded the Sox’ expectations.

Once Cecchini was able to recover fully from his surgery and begin working out in earnest, Hazen said that he became stronger, leaner and more athletic, putting him in a position to run the bases as well as he did.

“I think it was a bit of the unknown because we hadn’t seen him run in so long,” said Hazen. “He did a lot of work on his body, to the point where he was stealing all those bases. That was probably one of the more impressive things we saw, just the overall athleticism. Overall, we’re very happy with his season. It’s just unfortunate that it’s ending early.”

Interesting article about Garin's younger brother Gavin(not sure what their parents were thinking with those names) committing to play at Old Miss. Apparently both Garin and Gavin were committed to play at LSU and when the Sox drafted Garin, they told him that if he signed for less then his 1.75 million bonus demand they would take away his brothers scholarship.

Cecchini likely would have been a first-round pick in 2010 had he not torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that March. Signed for $1.31 million in the fourth round, he worked hard to come back from the injury and shined in the middle of Lowell's lineup until an errant pitch broke his right wrist and ended his season on July 23.

"For a young kid, he was their three-hole hitter, he used the whole field and he hurt us every time," Connecticut manager Andrew Graham said. "We'd try to jam him, and he'd pull it down the line. We'd go away, and he'd hit it down the opposite-field line." "

Cecchini is particularly adept at going the other way. He has advanced plate discipline for his age and projects as solid-average to plus hitter who figures to grow into comparable power down the road. He has solid-average speed to go with sure hands and a strong, accurate arm at third base.

For what its worth, a pro talent evaluator I talked to absolutely loved him and raved about his swing - but didn't think he'd stick at SS. High School kids are such volatile commodities tools-wise it wouldn't be shocking to see that change before the draft, though.

I do think he's gone before the Sox pick. He's a top 10 pick on my board right now (again, with the caveat that the stock of prep kids fluctuates wildly in the spring).

Cecchini hitting .287/356/393 so far for Greenville in 122 at-bats. Not much power at all (11 2B, 1 triple, 0 HR) but 12 for 14 in steals. Hopefully the power will start to show up soon. 5 of his 12 extra-base hits have come in his last 10 games.

Now hitting .308/.392/.440 with 2 home runs, 14 doubles, and two triples (good for a .832 OPS). Now has 17 stolen bases and only 3 CS.

It's worth nothing he's OPSing .915 over his last 10 games with the Drive, with more power than he's shown this season usually. He's got a ton of potential, and if he stays healthy, I'd be shocked if he didn't end up being a major league regular.

I'd love to see Cecchini get a promotion to A+ by the end of June. Given that he is already 21, he's not that young for a high school draftee in A- ball. If he can get 150-200 PAs in Salem this year, he could be ready to test out AA by 2013.

Third baseman Garin Cecchini, after a rigorous offseason training regimen, is huge this spring. He is approximately 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, according to a team official. What that means for the 2010 fourth-round pick on the field remains to be seen, but if the 21-year-old adds power to an impressive plate approach, he could emerge as one of the top few prospects in the team’s system. Cecchini hit .305 with a .394 OBP, .433 slugging mark and .827 OPS along with 51 steals (in 57 attempts) but with just four homers in Single-A Greenville last year. Still, talent evaluators who saw Greenville raved about the maturity of Cecchini’s plate discipline and approach, suggesting that power was likely to come for him down the road.

That's actually a big deal now as the top of the teams system is loaded for the first time in 7 or so years. Becoming a top prospect means being close to Bradley and Boegarts, so that's high praise. Hopefully he can live up to that.

It could also mean that he expects both Bogaerts and Bradley to lose prospect status by the end of the year which would lower the bar slightly. I'm excited to hear about Cecchini bulking up, though. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch how his year goes. Seeing him reach Bogaerts' status is probably a bit of wish casting, but I wouldn't be shocked by him ending up ranked similarly to Bradley if the size translates to power without a significant loss of speed, defensive range or patience at the plate (if he gets more aggressive to try and capitalize on the added power).

That article makes him sound a little more WMB-like, at least in terms of size. If Xander can't cut it at SS, and Cecchini does develop into a top prospect, there will need to be some decisions made on the left side of the infield. Good problem to have I suppose.

That article makes him sound a little more WMB-like, at least in terms of size. If Xander can't cut it at SS, and Cecchini does develop into a top prospect, there will need to be some decisions made on the left side of the infield. Good problem to have I suppose.

Have you been watching the Netherlands in the WBC?

Bogaerts has looked incredibly athletic and I wouldn't even think of moving him off short for several years.

One downside: he's already been caught stealing 3 times in 6 tries. Last year, he was 51 for 57 in stolen base attempts.

3 times is whatever so I'm not exactly drawing the conclusion yet, but he always struck me as a guy whose development arc would be power up, speed down. A frame he can grow into, as they say. Maybe he's a gym rat and accelerated the process. The 51 steals last year may have been more a function of just being too athletic for the league. I'm looking for him to be a power and walks guy - MLB steals would be ultra-upside.

Garin Cecchini, 3b, Red Sox: With Will Middlebrooks at third base in Boston and Double-A shortstop Xander Bogaerts potentially having to slide over to third eventually as he gets bigger, being a Red Sox third base prospect puts Cecchini in a difficult spot. While Cecchini’s defense has been shaky, his hitting has been outstanding. He’s hitting .373/.466/.640 in 20 games as a 22-year-old in high Class A Salem thanks to a strong batting eye and a knack for barreling up the ball. Cecchini strung together three triples over the weekend.

3 times is whatever so I'm not exactly drawing the conclusion yet, but he always struck me as a guy whose development arc would be power up, speed down. A frame he can grow into, as they say. Maybe he's a gym rat and accelerated the process. The 51 steals last year may have been more a function of just being too athletic for the league. I'm looking for him to be a power and walks guy - MLB steals would be ultra-upside.

The 51 steals last year may have been more a function of just being too athletic for the league. I'm looking for him to be a power and walks guy - MLB steals would be ultra-upside.

Consensus has it that his basestealing ability is more due to his outstanding instincts than his speed, which BA grades as average at best. Considering that stealing bases is almost all on reading pitchers, I'd expect his steals to steadily decrease as he moves up and pitchers are more adept at holding runners on/quicker to the plate. But, it's not unreasonable to say he could be a 20-25 SB guy early on in his ML career.

It would seem he could move to 1b or LF , but I woudn't move him off third just yet (or even plan on moving him off 3rd). A lot can happen between now and the time he's ready and that includes what could happen with Xander and WMB. The fact that he's blocked at 3B is more of a good problem to have and less of an urgent resolution. There's as many reports out there that he is a decent/adequate 3rdbaseman as there are reports that he is rough defensively.

It is far too early to worry about these things. Unless by "if he keeps this up" you mean he gets promoted and destroys AA pitching this year and then AAA pitching next spring, all the while having Middlebrooks show he belongs in the majors.

I'm more concerned about so much talk about moving Bogaerts. There is so much buzz about it that it seems they are thinking about it, but frankly I hope the Sox keep him at SS until he shows he can't handle it.

I'm more concerned about so much talk about moving Bogaerts. There is so much buzz about it that it seems they are thinking about it, but frankly I hope the Sox keep him at SS until he shows he can't handle it.

Obviously, his value is the highest at short. But, at what point do the Sox decide to let his bat do the talking by moving him to his ultimate destination where he doesn't have to waste time and effort into proving to be something he's not likely to be (ala Bryce Harper)? If the goal is to produce major leaguers, why wouldn't you expedite the process by letting him focus on hitting, his calling card? I just think it's pretty risky to expect him to continue to progress while learning to stick at the second hardest position to play on the field.

If you can get three or four years of higher value out of him by keeping him at shortstop why wouldn't you? What value is there in moving him off the position before he needs to? His bat is likely not major league ready yet, so I don't think they are missing out on major league production now or in the near future.

My bigger question is why the assumption that he ultimately will be a 3B? That's the part I have trouble with. I hope the Red Sox have done more evaluating than the reports I hear "oh gee, he's big." Honus Wagner was big. Alex Rodriguez was big. Cal Ripken was big. Hell Bogaerts isn't even as big as Jeter, though he may ultimately fill out a little more.

His bat has a shitload more value at SS than it does at 3B and the same applies to Cecchini. Also, asking them to learn new positions seems to me to be at least as demanding as asking them to continue playing the positions they have played for a long time. The point shouldn't be just to graduate players, it's to make the major league club better. There really aren't any rewards given out to "team with most positions filled by draft picks." Again, too soon to worry about all this anyway, but if all four of Middlebrooks, Iglesias, Bogaerts, and Cecchini are good major leaguers, it's not going to be a problem.

If they were trying to go in another direction (for instance, a hypothetical world where the Sox had no shortstop prospect and they were trying to see if Cecchini could handle SS instead) that at least makes sense in trying to create a route to the majors by increasing the players marginal value. Forcing them down the defensive spectrum artificially to fill perceived needs doesn't really make sense until they are ready to graduate to the majors. Obviously you may want to give them some reps at the new position first, but I just don't see the value in moving them around now.

A sincere question: what is preventing him from being promoted to Portland at this point?

Almanzar is hitting really well which might be blocking him, though the organization may have specific goals set for him that he needs to reach as well. I imagine it will happen some time this season, though.

Cecchini is a high-IQ player with a good feel for hitting but no plus tools who just missed my preseason top 100 and now looks like he clearly should have made it, hitting .365/.475/.615 and translating that ability to hit into above-average power production. There's absolutely some randomness/sample-size stuff at work here, but the early reports from scouts are glowing -- it's hard not to write up a player positively when he goes 8-for-10 in a three-game series.

If you can get three or four years of higher value out of him by keeping him at shortstop why wouldn't you? What value is there in moving him off the position before he needs to? His bat is likely not major league ready yet, so I don't think they are missing out on major league production now or in the near future.

I understand what your are saying and it has value however the team has to balance that with what is best for the Boston Red Sox too. At some point the team needs to evaluate who they plan on holding onto and then the value part takes a back seat to making the pieces fit properly, maybe you move Middlebrooks to first, maybe you trade him. With Cecchini and possibly Bogearts arriving before to long hopefully some long term team building strategy is in place.

Is it too early to start speculating as to when he'll get promoted to AAA?

I think so .. For nothing else there's the fact that there's a logjam in front of him. When Middlebrooks is back up (which should be soon as he's absolutely raking) then they might consider it. But I suspect they give him at least 150 PAs in Portland.